Shtick Together

For 13 Years, Members Of Boca Temple Have Been Producing Purim Shpiels.

March 10, 2006|By Lisa Goddard Special Correspondent

Congregation B'nai Israel in Boca Raton has been producing original Purim shpiels for 13 years, and now it has become a source of scripts for other synagogues.

Shpiels are plays that relate to the holiday that begins at sundown Monday this year and commemorates a period in history when Jews living in Persia, now Iran, were saved from extermination.

"There wasn't a whole lot out there when we started, so we wrote some parodied songs and performed them at Purim services. We realized we had a talent for it and really enjoyed it, so we started expanding to full shows, using senior staff, and every year it gets bigger," said Stephanie Shore, cantor at the Reform temple for 15 years.

Shore writes and performs in the plays with senior Rabbi Richard Agler.

This year, they're performing Oyklahoma, a spoof on Oklahoma!, after the Shabbat service March 17. Temple members get preferred seating, but seats will be available for the general public.

"In our first read-through, here were are, a bunch of Jewish Boca people sitting around talking in Southern accents, and it was so funny," Shore said.

A children's Purim shpiel, Mordechai and the Chocolate Factory, is set for 10:30 a.m. Sunday. That is also open to the community and followed by a carnival on the temple's grounds at 2200 Yamato Road.

The Marx Brothers, the music of the Beatles and Motown, and Broadway shows such as Grease, Guys and Dolls and Fiddler on the Roof have been the inspiration for past shpiels at B'nai Israel, which bring in audiences of 800 to 900 people each year.

"We'll hear something on the radio or see a movie and get an idea," Shore said.

Because their shpiels were so popular, the temple decided to allow other synagogues to present them. Temples from throughout the country and Canada, including congregations in Miami and West Palm Beach, have purchased B'nai Israel's shpiels.

"It's spreading like wildfire. We probably sell about 25 or 26 a year and offer them on a sliding scale, depending on the size of the congregation," Shore said. "Some temples don't have the resources to do these things."

Shore compiled the shpiels and converts cassettes to CDs so they could be uploaded to their Web site, www.purimshpiels.com, where people can listen to the song parodies and place an order.

Agler is thrilled at the response.

"It's a big kick and a wonderful thing that we can provide it to others," said Agler, who founded B'nai Israel in 1984. "I never considered myself a performer, but it's growing on me. Purim is a time for blowing off steam, and we all need that."

Other area synagogues are planning Purim shpiels, including Temple Emeth, west of Delray Beach. Set for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, it's open to the public. Dinner at $24 per person will follow the program.

Their shpiel features an original script as well.

"It's a modern version of the traditional story of Queen Esther and how she saved the Jews from evil Haman. We always start out with the actors asking, `What can we do for this year's Purim shpiel?', and we go from there," said temple member Lester Schwartz, of Boca Raton, who wrote the script and will play piano for some of the numbers. "One of our songs will be There She is Miss Persia (tune of There She is Miss America), and our cantor (Efraim Sapir) will do a tune to the wedding song from Fiddler on the Roof."

Temple Shaarei Shalom west of Boynton Beach is presenting Shu-cago (from Chicago) at 7 p.m. Monday, following a Purim service, and the public is invited to attend there as well.

"Every year I change the melodies of the prayers during the Purim service to different tunes, for instance, Beatles' songs or Elvis songs. This year, however, is the first time I am actually doing a play with several congregants, children as well as adults," said cantor Karen Braunstein.

A costume parade and contest, along with ice cream and the traditional Purim pastry, called Hamantashen, will follow the shpiel.